Champagne for my Real Friends, Real Pain for my Sham Friends

[Deleted]

Thread Title: Champagne for my Real Friends, Real Pain for my Sham Friends

Participants: Camila Adaronde vs. Ludwig Verrlicht

World: Human World

Death Setting: Death Enabled

Rating: R

Location: A somewhat empty bar in the middle of Karakura town. Dusk.

Special Conditions: N/A

Circumstances: Cami is enjoying a night at a bar despite currently being hunted by her former Captain. Upon being approached, a rather disastrous combat ensues.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Camila sat on her own and let out a disheartened sigh. Bars in the Human World really weren't anything special; in fact, they seemed to be quite bland at times. Granted those in Soul Society weren't any better, but she wasn't there anymore; she was free from that hell. Either way, she sat at a table by herself, ordering a drink every now and then in order to pass the time. She wasn't doing much with her life at the moment, other than finding a way in order to pass the time between each section of time she spent training or fighting.

She needed to grow stronger; that much was a guaranteed fact, especially when considering there was someone she'd need to convince that Camila's own viewpoint on the Soul Society was the correct viewpoint; that is to say, that the entire organization was absolutely corrupt from the inside out. She wasn't going to let a friend of hers suffer in silence when she could've done something to help her out of that horrible position! She needed to do something, even if that meant getting her outta there through force.

So, she needed power. Granted, Alcohol probably wasn't the way to obtain that power, but it was a phenomenal way to pass the time. Unfortunately for Camila, spending time training on her own was quickly getting her nowhere; she'd need to find someone else to do something with; whether that meant looking over Kido, sparring, or even just studying up on swordsmanship, she needed to find someone to work through things with; someone to correct her if she was off on anything in particular.

Sadly, though, the thought of having a close comrade for that in particular wasn't something she easily had access to. Hell, it's not like her ex-Captain was just going to saunter into the bar and help her figure her shit out; that was preposterous! She'd likely need to find someone else to work alongside, even if that was going to be something fairly difficult to do for the time being. No matter who it was, though, she couldn't afford to keep working on her own like this. She took another sip of wine.

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

Ludwig walked out from his personal Senkaimon door slowly and with bated breath. Today was going to be one of the days he regretted the most. He had a choice to make and both options didn’t exactly bode well for who he was going to find. Camila. He’d heard of her once or twice and had the luxury of bumping into her when she’d only just arrived at the squad once a long time ago. Sadly, due to his own schedule as well as the extensive time spent roaming around the human world trying to figure himself out he’d missed out on all of the highs and lows she’d gone through. He chuckled to himself bitterly. What I wouldn’t give for Wycliff to still be in the squad and forcing me to find whoever he pissed off. Those were so much more my speed. Yet here we are with a different family member. . . and her sentence was death. With me being the executioner.

He sighed deeply as he walked down from the sky above the city to the streets. He didn’t have a gigai and frankly he hadn’t felt he’d need it. He wasn’t here in his free time and he certainly wasn’t here to enjoy himself; he had a job, even if it twisted his internals. But the worst part of this? He didn’t even know why she’d left. It was one thing to change squads but this was abandoning the family he’d tried to encourage amongst the squad and just sheer abandonment of her duties as a whole. With seemingly no reason than one day she just decided to do so. It was an incredibly unpleasant feeling because if there was simply no reason or if he’d allowed his squad to fester to that point then who else would leave? Would there be others? . . . Did he even deserve to be captain then? He’d look at his captain haori for a moment. He met the requirements but was he actually captain material? That question had always been in his mind. Especially considering his failures with Kitai, the Soul Society’s stance on other spiritual entities, and just his day to day choices.

He couldn’t keep losing himself in his thoughts or these questions. These didn’t need to be answered now. Even if he wasn’t sure what the answers would be. And he certainly shouldn’t be carrying a heavy heart when he had orders to kill. It may not have been pleasant but that was a part of his job and it was his own hand that had willingly signed up for this. With his head somewhat cleared and his will reinforced he’d cast Sazanami and begin his trek through the city. He might not find Camila immediately but she wouldn’t realize he was present either. Sazanami didn’t exert a spiritual presence and given he hadn’t even released he’d be nigh impossible to sense anyway given he’d only be hiding the fraction of his total reiatsu that leaked past his soul’s internal barrier. Meanwhile Sazanami which was akin to waves would bounce off everything around him and tell him generally speaking where she’d be if only for one reason. Even if she was hidden she’d still be a localized source of far higher spiritual concentration than a normal human. She’d stick out like a sore thumb.



30 minutes later. . .


He’d finally managed to find something. And without a doubt it was Camilla. The sheer volume of spiritual energy radiating from her let alone the amount he’d found from Sazanami couldn’t have been from any other spiritual being around. And he’d found some pretty noticeable concentrations on accident but hers was on another level. Now that he’d walked up however he was a bit more disappointed in her choice of residence. He’d hoped she’d be at her home, away from others but she was in public and mingling. He frowned as he stood outside thinking over what to do. I won’t hurt the others. They aren’t the problem child. I guess though there’s nothing I can do but let loose some. Thankfully if I keep the area of influence small I won’t kill anyone driving by. And the remainder will fall unconscious.

He nodded to himself and started to let his energy be known, aggressively so. Cami would feel a pressure but unlike all those around her and in the “establishment” she’d be the only one barely feeling anything. Though that wouldn’t stop the emotions present in the gravitational zone from being present. She’d just be the only one capable of sensing it. Meanwhile everyone else quickly started to fall to their knees before ultimately falling unconscious. With only a couple stragglers taking more than a few seconds at most to fall into their mental abyss. And to make matters better even the cameras weren’t well off as they literally exploded. But as far as Camila would be concerned, she’d just feel the disappointment and traces of anger. Yet the anger felt foriegn, forced even and beneath all of that there was a certain unmistakeable chaos of several emotions. Try as Ludwig might to hide that it just wasn’t possible since he wasn’t 100% steeled for this.

However as he walked in, making sure to not step on anyone and ensuring no one had more than some minor scraps, cuts, etc. he’d make his way towards the seat next to Cami. Forgive me for the “dramatic” entrance, I was hoping I’d find you in a less crowded area. I assume that you can probably figure out why I’m here, however let’s skip to what’s important. Before anything happens I need to know, why? It’s not unheard of for someone to leave but it is without them declaring why. And considering yours was so sudden I imagine there must’ve been a good reason. He glances over at Camila, eyes hard and his lips thin. He looked ready for whatever was about to happen, fight or conversation, but ultimately his eyes betrayed his personal preference to not be involved with this. But that moment of weakness was quickly hidden away and in its place was a cold resolve.

[Deleted]

Taken back incredibly quickly by everybody nearby dropping like flies as she was subsequently overwhelmed with raw emotion, Camila began to go on high-alert. She was by no means ready for what was about to come. Or, so she thought. She'd originally thought it had been some kind of arrancar looking for a fight, or some other high-priority target. That wasn't to say that the one coming to see her wasn't high-priority, but rather someone she'd not expected, at least for quite some time.

Seeing Ludwig of all people enter the establishment and sit down next to her, she couldn't help but sigh. The absent Captain. One of the very, very few people she didn't have a direct distaste for, but still someone she wasn't exactly looking forward to seeing. Still, it was far better him than a different Captain. "Really can't say I expected to see you here, if I'm being honest. Thought someone else was going to track me down, what with the first one sent being from Squad 10 and all."

She'd then listen to him speak. "Before anything happens I need to know, why? It’s not unheard of for someone to leave but it is without them declaring why. And considering yours was so sudden I imagine there must’ve been a good reason." Simply swirling her wine around in her glass, Camila didn't even bother to look up at the man. If he intended to look, her expression was one of guilt. Anger as well, alongside some likely annoyance, but predominantly guilt.

In truth, she rather liked to concept of family during her time in Squad 13. While she never made a huge effort to get to know anyone there, nor had anyone really done the same for her, she couldn't help but miss the concept of family. That being said, she did what she could to shrug off those emotions and force herself to forget about that for the time being. No sense in showing weakness where it could potentially come back to bite her in the ass moments later.

"I left because I couldn't continue to call that place home," she said with a melancholic tone, "not after everyone was so quick to turn on me after that fight with the Espada. Apparently that got around like wildfire, so I'm not going to bother going into that for the time being. After everyone had been so willing to turn on me, I couldn't find a reason as to why I should've put up with it. So, I left." Naturally that wasn't the whole story, as she firmly believed Soul Society to be a poorly-ran organization that she wasn't about to lay down her life for anyway, but she wasn't about to share all of that.

"I suppose you're going to drag me back in chains or dead, much like Celes has?" She turned her head up to look Ludwig in the face. Her expression was one of pain; one that looked to express just how much she'd been through already over the last few weeks since her desertion. "I'd already told her that I'm willing to fight for myself. I ain't gonna let myself be dragged back to that hellhole. I don't wanna fight you, Ludwig, I'd rather just talk if you're alright with that, but if that's what it has to come to, then so be it."

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

Ludwig couldn’t help but chuckle bitterly. Even going so far as to begin laughing to himself. It was short lived however as it ended as quickly as it began. He hadn’t meant to laugh at her, the situation at hand wasn’t even that funny and his heavy heart only further solidified this. However it was ironic. Ironic that the one he was 100% ordered to kill was a rare breed that seemed to genuinely prefer to not fight and instead talk it out. Normally when he had given others the option to flee or talk instead of a fight they chose to fight. Now the tables were turned and he already knew what his answer would be. Still he could delay that for a few minutes longer right? Glancing at the bodies of the very much alive but unconscious humans even he knew he wouldn’t willingly fight here. Not unless he was pushed to do so.



When he finally glanced back at Camilla’s direction he spoke clearly albeit with a hint of aggression underneath. To who? It wasn’t certain as it wouldn’t feel entirely aimed at her but there was definitely some her way. “As much as I’d love to talk this out I’m not able to do so this time. I’m under orders from the Captain Commander to execute you. There was no room for interpretation into non-lethal methods. For what it’s worth however. . . I can understand your feeling displaced and isolated. I remember feeling very much the same both when I was alive and during my stay in the Soul Society.” This would be the moment he looked Camilla dead on and let loose a bit more of his spiritual energy and despite it’s pink appearance it was now a deep raspberry and jagged. Lashing out against itself and the air immediately around Ludwig.



“However that does not mean that you can abandon those around you like they are trash. There are many things I could have forgiven Camilla but betrayal is not one. Especially when we could have fixed any issues you might have had in our squad.” It’d be pretty evident to Camilla that while Ludwig knew she’d left he wasn’t aware of the entire story. Having heard only the rumors and a twisted version Ludwig was painted with a story that showed Camilla having thrown her squad mates under for an arrancar. That her fight prior was a sparse one meant to put the others around her at ease until they both lashed out and injured the shinigami present. And given the incredibly cold and distant look on his face he wasn’t exactly in the mood to listen to much of what she had to say on the subject. But despite the aura his face still seemed forced, especially the frown it was larger than it should have been had he been truly upset.



At this point Ludwig would simply get up out of the seat, glancing over at a nearby soda before shaking his head and speaking to Camilla as he walked out. “I’d rather not kill or harm these innocent bystanders any further. So if you wouldn’t mind coming with me outside we can get this done without any more delays. I’ll be waiting. From here Ludwig would simply shunpo his way up 500 feet into the sky well above any building in the nearby area. Once he was comfortably in the air he’d start mentally casting a few kido while he waited for Camilla.



Throw the pebble in the pond; ripple across the still waters, trace the boundaries, return. Bakudo #3 Sazanami. A dream within a dream, a heart within a soul, a core within a nucleus which in turn is within an atom. Within all there is still more. And within thee, I place this seal. Bakudo #55 Mutsuhoyo. With these incantations alongside Sajosabuku’s incantation he was prepared to face off against Camilla. At least once he released his shikai. He’d wait for her to come out and be on equal footing, preferably with her own release given he still had some morals even if this was meant to be an execution. For the time being though he could easily sense where Camilla would be at and follow her along by simply getting relayed information from the various invisible spiritual waves bouncing around. And of course if she tried to pull anything or quickly physically attack him she’s be met with a very curious surprise. The cloth would be stored inside his haori alongside a command to activate upon being in contact with Camilla. And with the incantations used it was much stronger than normal ensuring that she’d suffer for quickly running into a direct confrontation with Ludwig. Now all he could do was wait and see what she decided to do. Worst case scenario. . . he’d have to start the fight with the humans being hostages and possibly. . . killed. He shuddered at that thought but resteeled himself to ensure he’d be ready in the event that he had to force her hand.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Ludwigs stats}
Stats:

Strength: 25

Speed: 75

Reiatsu Strength: 400

Spiritual Pressure: 300

Instinct: 300

Senses: 25

Energy sense: 25

Healing expertise: 0

Light: 75

Dark: 25



Skills:

Strength of Will- 3

Weapon: Cartoon Drawings- 3

Battle Analysis- 2

Learning- 3

Mental Incantation- 2

Damage Recovery- 3

SPOILER: Click to show

{Reiatsu}
-25 for Sazanami
-150 for Mutsuhoyo
-150 for Sajosabuku

total: 325

3,000 - 325 = 2,675 reiatsu remaining

[Deleted]

Camila sighed as Ludwig had left the building. She knew exactly where this was going, and was by no means fond of the fact. He'd definitely be looking to fight against her, and truth be told, she wasn't sure if this was an engagement that she'd end up winning. She knew she needed to if she wanted to hang onto her life, she'd need to either talk him down or win the engagement. Thankfully she might've had a trick up her sleeve for the fight at hand, but it was a matter of whether or not she should've used it.

Making her way out of the building rather slowly, Camila stared up to Ludwig. "Ludwig, I don't know about you, but I'm not particularly looking to do this. All I wanted was to just enjoy an evening to myself, but I guess I can't even fucking have that, huh?" Agitation began to rise in her voice as she continued to walk, hands in her pockets and her Zanpakuto sheathed on her hip. "Can't a girl just have one fucking evening? Just one, without having to worry about someone coming to lob my fucking head off and put it on a pike?"

She unsheathed her weapon, and held it out in front of her. Her reiatsu began to flare, as it swept across the entire area she was in with rather overwhelming force; that of nearly pure hollow reiatsu. "Make them bleed, Buveur de Sang." As she finished speaking, her blade began to coat in her own reiatsu, as small changes were made to the shape; the weapon was now a little longer, and the blade of the longsword was now blood red and serrated. She lowered it to her side and continued to stare at Ludwig.

"So, we're fighting now, huh?" She asked, cracking her neck, and letting out yet another sigh. "Just keep in mind that this isn't something I would've normally wanted to do. But, seeing as you're forcing looking to pick a fucking fight, I'm not holding back." She kept her stare directly on Ludwig as two lances of what looked to be blood began to materialize around her, and launch out within a second of creation straight toward the Shinigami. While her goal was to hit with these, but not for the purpose of a direct offense; no, these attacks were aimed in order to see just how Ludwig would move. After all, she'd never even sparred with the man, she had no idea what to expect.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Camis Stats & Skills}Strength: 100
Speed: 200
Spiritual Pressure: 400 [800]
Reiatsu Strength: 350
Light Aura: 80
Dark Aura: 20
Instinct: 100
Senses: 50
Energy Sensory: 0
Healing Expertise: 0

------------------
Skills

Weapons - European Swords: 2
Charisma: 2
Mental Incantations: 2
Strength of Will: 2
Pain Tolerance: 2

SPOILER: Click to show

{Reiatsu Pool & Blood Counters}Reiatsu Pool: 7,700/8,000
-300 for Sanguine Lance x2.

Blood Counters: 10/10
+10 for releasing with 100% reiatsu.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Sanguine Lance}Technique Name: Sanguine Lance

Technique Description and Effects (Explain appearance, powers, and effect):

Camila focuses her reiatsu into the shape of a spike, with its length being two feet. The spike forms to the left of her, slowly taking on a thick, blood-like appearance, while not actually being made of blood. The lance then fires that same post at a speed of 800 towards a target, in a straight line. Upon impact with a solid force, the lance will implant itself, remaining within the object or person for a cost of either 100 reiatsu per post, or 1 blood counter per post. Upon contact with a person, the lance slowly siphons reiatsu from them, and replenishing Camila’s reiatsu pool in turn. The amount of reiatsu siphoned per lance is equal to 100 reiatsu per post. After two posts have passed, the lance then disintegrates, leaving behind a blood-like liquid on the ground where the lance dissolved. In addition to the normal Reiatsu cost, Camila may spend up to three Blood Counters for an additional cost. For every Blood Counter spent when using this technique, another lance forms near the original for no reiatsu cost, up to a maximum of 4 lances total. The lance made of Reiatsu has an attack power equal to her OS. Additionally, Camila can decide to siphon blood counters from a target impaled with these lances. These lances can forego any reiatsu drain, and instead siphon blood counters at a rate of 1 per post from the lance created with reiatsu, and 2 per post from lances created from blood counters.

Technique Drawbacks (Limitations, repercussions for use, etc):

Costs 150 reiatsu to use. Upon firing, the Sanguine Lance manifests in a physical form. This means it can be interacted with, and in turn, pulled out of the target, stopping the siphon (Though, in turn, if a deep enough wound is left, it can in turn be drawn upon for a Blood Counter.). The lance can only be fired in a straight line, and does not curve at all. The Reiatsu draining effect does not stack upon more than one lance being implanted in the target.

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

Ludwig smiled mentally despite the frown on his face. He was glad she’d managed to get her shikai. He still remembered the hyper active meeting he’d had. Though she was upset and putting quite a bit of killing intent into her release he was still glad he got to see her use it. It was a bittersweet moment but at least she really was able to stand on her own two feet. Which is also why he was upset because he could already tell she was potent greatly so if only by the sheer volume of energy she was radiating. Which brought another curious point for Ludwig but that would have to wait until later. As Camilla released so too did Ludwig. [coolor=lightpink] “Draw out your soul’s desires, Karvaldia.” [/color] As his combat knife quickly changed into a #2 pencil in his right hand, his actual zanpakuto appeared in his haori pocket. It was a small black sketchbook. Camilla wouldn’t know this though given she’d never seen his release. But these would only be the surface level information.



Once the transformation was complete Ludwig’s reiatsu exploded outward with enough force to make a spherical shockwave around him that almost reached the top of the low buildings beneath him. Then the strangest thing that would happen occurred. Ludwig smiled widely, genuine joy in his eyes and promptly swung out his left hand as the spears drew near. Within 10 feet of him the spears were crushed and exploded backwards spraying the liquid reiatsu back where it came from. “My oh my, little Camilla is a vampire.You know it was bad enough to make spears but making them out of blood? You’re really stealing Dracula’s thing. And if the stories are to be believed, they’re much weaker than his ever would be. Ah well. At least they’ve got some strength behind them. You’ll last longer that way.”



Ludwig glanced at his speech bubble. Seeing the words appear as various symbols. He smiles as he notices one he genuinely enjoys. Without any indication he did anything the speech bubble pops and down drops 5 symbols into his hand. He places 2 of them in his pockets, a mario star and a skull/cross bones. The latter 3 symbols were a diamond, a monkey head, and a heart. (So ironic!) The other three he puts between his fingers in his left hand holds it out towards Camilla and fires them at her via Sho. By the time they’d reach her, which would be incredibly quick given Sho was propelling them at 1400 speed she’d have only forward as a means to dodge safely. In any other direction that wasn’t forward she’d be liable to be hit with an explosion for up to 50 feet in almost any direction. And even then she’d still have to deal with potential shards from the grenades flying around. I genuinely hope these don’t hit anyone else. I’m going to be incredibly upset later if I do find out I hurt / killed someone unintentionally. Still this is why Camilla shouldn’t be around city hubs. It gets dangerous for others.



At this point Ludwig saw no further need to do much of anything. He could cast another spell but he’d only be causing EXCESSIVE damage to the surrounding area. Plus if Camilla finally decided to join him in the sky, as opposed to the ground he wouldn’t have to hold back. Well. . .that was assuming she forced him to do something other than stand still and slap her attacks aside like a wet noodle. Or in this case like uncooked hotdogs. They were red spears afterall and they practically went as limp as a hotdog otherwise would be. With a quick nod to himself Ludwig simply smiled as he watched how Camilla would deal with his bombs from afar. All the meanwhile thinking to himself about if he should maintain his release long enough to get some candy once he was done. He was certainly going to need it knowing he’d be dead on the inside afterwards.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Reiatsu}
-125 for 5 symbols
-25 for Sho
-300 for Shikai at class 3

total reiatsu: 450 reiatsu

2,675 - 450 = 2,225 reiatsu

SPOILER: Click to show

{release information}
1/19 posts used

released at class 3

Level: Shikai

Stats increased RS and Speed

SPOILER: Click to show

{Ludwig Stats:}
Strength: 25
Speed: 300
RS: 1400
SPPR: 300
Instinct: 300
Senses: 25
ES: 25
HE: 0

[Deleted]

She barely had time to think before these symbols were coming at her. Even despite taking the opportunity to Shunpo directly into the air to dodge these grenades, there was absolutely no chance she was making it away from them with any semblance of ease. She'd have to take quite a bit of damage from the explosions, and there was no real way around that. As she made her way into the air after experiencing a rather serious amount of damage, she winced in pain upon noticing shards of various emotes and symbols lodged in her legs and even partially up her chest.

"Tch," she scoffed, "you think that'll be anywhere near enough to take me down, asshole? You're going to have to try a lot harder than that. I promise you I'm not going down without a fight." As she finished speaking, she glared at the Shinigami with nothing but violent intent. Preparing another four lances, Camila shifted her body so that her descent would take her to the top of the bar that she was originally in. She needed the time to break and heal these wounds, but was now the best time to do so?

Whether or not it was didn't particularly matter at the moment. She had the time to use and she wasn't going to let it go to waste. Firing off another four lances, Camila decided to utilize those as nothing more than distractions as she took a deep breath and focused her reiatsu around her body. The small shards that were digging into her skin began to force themselves out as the wounds left on her skin began to close up and seal as though they hadn't taken any sort of damage at all.

Now that healing was out of the way, she could pull the stunts she'd wanted to in order to hopefully end a fight between the two before it began. She knew immediately that there was no way she could beat him in her current state. She'd need to pull some kind of cheap, underhanded tactics in order to actually have this fight actually turn around and end in her favor. She knew exactly what she wanted to do, too. Exhaling heavily after taking the breath she just did, Camila jumped down from the roof and landed in front of the bar. 

Keeping her eyes on Ludwig, and holding her hand directly out toward the bar, Camila began to focus her reiatsu into her currently outstretched palm. "Though," she started, "while I might not go down without a fight, that doesn't mean that these people have even a chance to do so. Drop the violence; now. I'm not fucking playing games here, Ludwig, don't tempt me or I'll blow this motherfucker sky fucking high." Not being one to normally curse, hopefully it was evident that Camila was not in the best of moods.

At this point, one of two balls of flame had been all but formed in her hand, and ready to launch. If he tried anything, the currently prompted Soren Sokatsui would be ready to fire directly into the bar. Given the amount of alcohol in such a small area, there was very little chance that the place wasn't going to be absolutely decimated, with every unconscious human inside burned to ashes. She flashed him a smirk. "So, Captain," she said, putting a rather disrespectful amount of emphasis on 'Captain', "what's it gonna be?"

SPOILER: Click to show

{Reiatsu Pool & Blood Counters}Reiatsu Pool: 6,450/8,000
-50 for Shunpo
-600 for Sanguine Lance x4
-400 for Soren Sokatsui
-200 for Vampiric healing

Blood Counters: 0/10
-10 for Vampiric Healing

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

Ludwig watched as Camilla dodged the majority of the blasts via Shunpo. Admittedly not even being able to see her until she was at her destination however that didn’t mean much for him given Sazanami was aiding his ability to sense her and pinpoint her immediate location. So with this in mind Ludwig quickly grabbed another symbol, this time the mario star and csat Surasoratoiera from his hand firing it off in Camilla’s direction, now double the speed the prior ones had been fired off at. Poor Cami, she must believe that she’s going to be given the time to recover and counter attack. The sad thing is that I really don’t need to do much to actually catch up to her at this point. Something she will learn the hard way right. . . about. . . now. It didn’t matter that Ludwig actually ended up pushing himself backwards what mattered was once Camilla had finished her Shunpo she’d be in the perfect position to take another hit but this time point blank.



All Camilla would see is something moving her way fast before nothing short than one blink of her eyes into Ludwig. Or if she was focusing on where Ludwig had been standing previously she’d see him unzip himself and out popping something that was moving incredibly fast. Regardless Ludwig would immediately appear in front of her a large grin on his face. “Boom. And with that comment he’d send out a different technique. One he was certain wouldn’t miss and hopefully would end this about as soon as it started. Hado #90 Kurohitsugi. If there was ever a moment to show Ludwig was not playing around it was now. Given the spell being cast at point blank there’d be no way to dodge so unless Camilla had a defense means to stop herself from being hit by the various spears that would form within, she’d likely become a pincushion. Or swiss cheese. Probably the cheese if he was honest.



That weight in his heart grew immensely however. Why was he going 100% into this? Is this really the answer he felt was correct? Killing someone over a difference in opinion when from they’re end they’d been left by the wayside. But then again that was what Camilla claimed. What about what he was told? Wasn’t it his duty to figure out what happened first and then find an answer that solved the issue? Shut up. Shut. Up. We got ordered to do this. She’s left her brethren and she’s even using something else to power her release. Chances are that’s also highly against the rules. Which only furthers that she has probably been putting others in harm’s way willingly. . . That weight continued to grow within as he tried to reason this out. But he was going to push forward. He was going to do what he was tasked with because it was the right answer. . . but if it was then why did this feel so wrong? Why did this remind him of his past life where he sat by doing as ordered and unable to stop the atrocities that were committed?



His kurohitsugi was up and no doubt impaling Camilla at damn near every point possible. It should have been a finisher and yet he’s using it as an opener more of less. Their fight had scarcely begun and he wasn’t even really giving her a chance to fight. At least he was attempting to genuinely make this an execution but even those generally could have honor. Was going as strong as possible really making this the best way to show Camilla any respect? Or was he just hiding from his own emotions. It was strange because even released he was still weighed down by this. He shouldn’t be. He should have been able to ignore this because it wouldn’t have been present normally, so why now of all times would this feeling. . . feelings in general be present? His smile teetered a bit, not that Camilla would see. He forced it back but it was nowhere near as overwhelming as before. And he couldn’t even make it go back to the prior overwhelming size it was prior.



By the time Ludwig had finally composed himself he’d likely have missed the fact Kurohitsugi was done and whatever Camilla was doing would be able to go on without any delay or interception on his part. Lost in his mind a bit and the impossibility that his emotions were still present and actively hindering him. If he wasn’t careful he was going to get overwhelmed and he couldn’t afford that. I’ve got a job. I NEED to finish this. I need to kill Camilla. She has wronged the Soul Society and even worse she’s betrayed her own family. . . But it doesn’t make sense. That should have never happened in my squad. They are a family, supposed to be anyway. Focus, you idiot. Focus. This dance is not yet over. Not until the light from Camilla’s eyes has faded. It’s not over until then.

SPOILER: Click to show

{reiatsu}-150 for surasoratoiera
-150 for Ole Switcheroo
-600 for Kurohitsugi

total used: 900 reiatsu

2,225 - 900 = 1,325 reiatsu remaining

SPOILER: Click to show

{Release info}Class 3 Shikai

2/19 posts used

next post will increase 2 more stats

[Deleted]

As the blackened walls quickly closed around Camila, she knew she needed to think quickly. She quickly rammed her sword through her stomach, taking the time needed in order to further cause her offensive potential to effectively explode. Thankfully for her, Kurohitsugi was a technique that had a very brief, but very noticeable start-up time. While this window was only about a second long, it was just enough time for her to take the opportunity to further ascend.

As the blades began to launch at her, Camila's reiatsu exploded outward; while not quite enough to do much of anything about the technique, it was enough to give off a heads-up to those in the immediate area; Ludwig, namely. This reiatsu however, began to surge through the area for one main reason; Camila had entered Bankai. Her voice had been muffled due to the walls closing in, and she'd need to endure a multitude of strikes all around her, but it wasn't something she'd be unable to do. Not in this state.

Seconds later, as the walls began to collapse around her, Camila stood huffing and breathing heavily. Though, it wasn't quite Camila; where she had been before, a suit of armor encased the girl. A blood red, rather ominous looking suit of armor with multiple puncture holes across the entire thing that had been sealing back up with every passing moment. Unfortunately it could only do this so much, but hopefully it'd be enough for her to at least survive a few hits from Ludwig.

"You," she huffed, "you are beyond fucking dead after that. I promise you this much, Ludwig." Launching herself directly at the Shinigami via that of a Shunpo, Camila threw her blade all over the place at the Shinigami, looking to overpower him, overwhelm him, and more importantly, leave as many wounds across his body as she possibly could. Sure, she was actively tiring herself out, but that didn't change the fact that every hit against her while she was like this only gave her more energy to continue fighting; to keep pushing herself to tear this man down.

She had to have slashed at least twenty times by the time she was done aiming to attack him. With the final strike against him, Camila propelled her arm via a Shunpo Karin to send it launching straight into his body. If none of the other attacks hit, hopefully this was the one that was going to. After those attacks, she pulled herself back to the bar, and held an open hand out toward it, forcing her reiatsu into her palm. The move she'd planned to launch before was now able to be fired, due to her not being disrupted, as two twin orbs of pale flame quickly engulfed the bar.

Within seconds, the bar erupted in spiritual flame as the building collapsed soon after. She wasn't playing around anymore, and knew that he likely wasn't going to either. Good. She was glad to hear it. She was glad to hear that he was going to actually look to fight her now; no more of these petty kido. Hell, she wasn't even going to use them anymore. She'd make sure to tear down any chance he could take to cast any kind of spell from here on out; this was a test of close-combat.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Reiatsu Pool & Blood Counters}Reiatsu Pool: 5,850/8000
-800 for Bankai
-50 for Shunpo
-100 for Shunpo Karin
-0 for Soren Sokatsui, as the goal was to use it last post and the cost had already been deducted.
+350 for Bloodied Fortress drain.

Blood Counters: 0/20
+16 for releasing Bankai at 80% reiatsu.
-16 for Bloodied Fortress.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Duration Counts}Bankai Duration: 1/10
Bloodied Fortress Duration: 1/8

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

Ludwig had still been lost in his thoughts, spacing out enough to not realize his kurohitsugi had dissipated. It was only at the tail end of Camilla’s comment that dragged Ludwig back to reality and finally realized he’d been too slow to react. He’d let her not only bankai, which he was honestly impressed with given he’d never had the chance to work with anyone on their release let alone their advanced release stage. But to make matters worse she was literally in front of him, her sword swinging and even a shunpo wasn’t going to save him at this point. You know if nothing else perhaps I deserve this. I did practically kill her, or at least would have had her bankai not saved her. It’s a shame. . . I can’t even tell her I’m genuinely impressed that she found hers. That’s when the situation turned on its head however.



While Ludwig was more than willing to let the attack be, he'd placed a kido in his haori that was meant to act as a defensive response to any physical attack. Bakudo #63 Sajosabuku. And worse yet it had been empowered by both it’s incantation and the incantation of the kido that had allowed him to imbue it into his own clothing to begin with. The moment Camilla’s blade touched his haori it activated and immediately crawled up her arm and across her body wrapping itself up as tight as a straight jacket. Movement was nigh impossible barring breathing however that wouldn’t stop the force behind Camilla’s blade from transferring to Ludwig. If nothing else that sucker fucking hurt and at a minimum cracked a couple ribs on his right side. Alright. . . Not the worst thing I’ve ever dealt with. . . but fuck me it’s been a long time since I took a solid hit from someone. .



A bit of summoned up willpower and Ludwig would quickly pull himself back up to full height and look at Camilla. His smile had gradually diminished at this point. This was practically the checkmate of the match, as far as he was concerned anyway. There wasn’t much else that needed to be done to actually kill her given she was basically incapacitated. However Ludwig’s mind couldn’t say it was a zero percent chance. Maybe she did have a means and so Ludwig would need to be certain she could do nothing else. Which is where his next kido came into play. “Bakudo #76 Reika Jii.” He stayed quiet for a moment as the metallic feathers quickly came into existence around Camilla. It was honestly quite a pretty sight if it were for the morbid power that was behind it. When the flurry of feathers was so thick it was hard to really see Camilla, that's when the real power behind it came into play. Each feather shot off a pink beam of energy into Camilla. Initially it wouldn’t be painful but very quickly she’d realize that she’d stopped feeling anything. Even her own breath. The only part of her that she could feel and use to move would be her muscles around her neck and head.



If she was particularly observant she’d also realize her reiatsu wasn’t responsive. Instead it would “feel” frozen. Unable to move anywhere or even be used. If anything she’d now understand how an ice cube felt. Meanwhile as Ludwig watched on he’d mentally speak the incantation to ensure it’s effect would be at the maximum. Your body will not be burned. Your soul will not be lain to rest. You will lay on the ground and continue to rot as the rain hits your corpse. You will be attacked and disgraced by the world around you, until all that is left is your rotting bones. There is no honor for you. There is no life for you. There is only demise and shame.



He couldn’t give her any more opportunities given she’d survived a point blank Kurohitsugi. If he wasn’t careful she’d kill him or get closer than anyone else had. However this is when he started to realize the effects of his own kido begin to take their toll on him. His left arm wasn’t moving anymore. Couldn’t move. And his own sense of touch was gone. He existed but only because he could see himself and knew he did. Had he been blind and deaf he could have been convinced that he was simply a figment of his own imagination. In a way he felt a sort of peace about this. Not truly being present, at least physically. However this only served to heighten his emotions that were still bursting through his release. . . and the weight was growing near unbearable.



I’m dawdling. I need to finish this. She needs to be put to rest. These feelings though. . . It’s like I’m being eaten away just thinking about this. Surely there had to be another option. But this was what was ordered. She was to be killed. Removed from existence. . . Orders. . . are orders even if you don’t agree with them. It’s not easy but I can make this quick and painless. . I just need to bring myself together and do it. With that he pulled out his pencil and willed it into the sword form. The sides flattened and edged into a genuine blade, with the tip pointed at Camilla’s throat. He just looked at her in the eyes for a moment. Uncertain of what he would see but knowing that he couldn’t look away especially not in a moment like this. If she looked back she’d see just how his mind and heart were fighting. His expression may have been calm but his eyes seldom stayed in one place and with his heavy breathing it was obvious it wasn’t easy to even try and do this which is why he was hesitating.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Release}
Strength and Senses chosen to return to full

Class 3 Shikai

3/19 posts used

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stats}
Strength: 100

Speed: 300 (Cut to 150 per Reika Jii)

RS: 1400

SPPR: 300 ( cut to 150 per Reika Jii)

Instinct: 300

Senses: 100

ES: 25

HE: 0

SPOILER: Click to show

{Reiatsu}
-600 for Reika Jii

1,325 - 600 = 725 reiatsu remaining

[Deleted]

Striking true against Ludwig, Camila saw a rather perfect opportunity to finally end this fight before he had the chance to do much of anything else. She'd need to do what she could to make sure he didn't retaliate against her. She was personally running low on her own reserves, and he was almost at his full capacity; she'd dealt with his kind before. Those that focus solely on their Zanpakuto and the powers that come from that. Ailene was the same way. She couldn't let him reach that absurd point. She just couldn't; her life truly depended on what happened here. That said, unfortunately for poor Camila, it seemed the universe and Ludwig himself had some different fate set out for the girl.

As she made contact with him, and her hopes had been rising, some damned Kido of his began to launch out from his person, and quickly make its way up her arm and around her body. Panicking, she withdrew as fast she could, but naturally to no avail. While she might've been quick, this technique was that much faster, and inevitably dropped her to the ground, completely and helplessly restrained. The moment she realized what was going on, Camila forced herself about on the ground, thrashing around like a cornered wolf retaliating in aggression. She let out aggressive and troubled shouts, unwilling to deal with the hand that she had been dealt.

"Let me out of this!" she shouted as loud as she possibly could, her vocal chords straining to reach the volumes she aimed for and thus resulting in a cacophonous rasping tone to her words. She couldn't bring herself to speak any coherent words for the time being, and continued to thrash about as she did what she could to try to break these damned bindings. Surely there had to be a way. Surely she had a way out. Surely she could think of something; anything. It was then that she felt a scratching at the back of her mind; Albin! He'd always been a saving grace of hers, and hopefully this time was no different. She needed him now more than ever in the past.

Desperately, she did what she could to call out to her inner hollow; to let him know that she was fully prepared to surrender temporary control over her own form to let himself go absolutely buck wild; to get them both out of this lethal situation they had been in. Truth be told, his power was absolutely needed here. There was no way otherwise that they'd be able to get out of these circumstances. And, fortunately enough, the very moment she mentally declared her surrender, Albin had made the decision to step in; to have the cards reshuffled and redealt, in hopes that they could get a better hand.

As his control had been asserted over her physical body, an absolutely maddening rush of hollow reiatsu released from her body, and, while aided by her already very potent spiritual prowess, threatened to knock anything without a spiritual presence in possibly even a quarter-mile unconscious, or at worst, dead. While the goal here wasn't to force this pressure upon Ludwig, who likely wouldn't suffer any of the negatives like those that had been in the area, there was no doubt he'd probably pick up on that signature. That said, the hope was there for both shinigami and hollow that this release of energy would be enough to shatter the bonds that had been placed over them.

Though, with that said, fate was absolutely a cruel mistress. Just like before, as even a semblance of hope had shined through the girl's head about getting out of this situation alive, they were instantly shut down by Ludwig. Within a matter of seconds, as he uttered some sort of Bakudo name, she felt herself go cold. Any semblance of being able to move, any semblance of feeling Albin, and any semblance of hope that she'd get out of this were immediately shattered; absolutely obliterated and crushed into a fine powder at this point. She genuinely had no hope of getting out of this, and that began to scare her.

She had nothing left to do. No way to fight back. No way to get out of this. She was at his mercy; she was at the mercy of a fucking Shinigami. She felt disrespected. She felt disgraced, like everything she'd worked for since leaving Soul Society, and she couldn't stand that. She wasn't going down without leaving Ludwig something to remember; something to truly take a toll on his psyche if she could help it, solely out of spite for the fact that he was going to be the one to finally put her down like a sick dog at this point.

"You must think you're hot shit, huh, Captain?" she hissed, practically spitting that last word out at him, "you think you're worthwhile just because you were able to take out some fucking renegade? You think anyone gives a shit? I hope you know that you're nothing more than a fucking dog blindly following orders. Do you think that everything will be perfectly fucking okay just because you're doing what your superiors tell you? Do you think they actually give a flying fuck about you? For as smart as you are to get a position as a Captain, I hope you knot that you're absolutely fucking moronic, Ludwig, for thinking that anyone is looking out for you in that shithole. You preach about your Squad being a family, but what are you doing here? You're seconds away from ending the life of someone you once held in that regard."

Taking a minute to breathe as Ludwig held his lade to her neck, Camila stared deep into his eyes, completely disregarding anything he might've felt. Her eyes were filled with nothing but pure unbridled hatred; a hate for him, a hate for her position, and a hate for everything this man supposedly stood for. Tears started to well up around her eyes. "I'm fucking tired of this. If you're going to take my life, just fucking do it at this point. I've no reason to continue to deal with you anymore, Ludwig. Just know that when you do kill me, I hope you're damned with the guilt that comes from having my blood permanently stain your memory. I hope you know that I will take my hatred of you, and of your family to the fucking grave with me. I'll see you in hell."

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

If there was anything left that could surprise Ludwig at this point it was Camilla’s surrender to her inner hollow. Ludwig had never known anyone to have such a thing residing inside them. Let alone able to call upon it at will. And had it not been for his quick thinking he would have had to deal with something FAR worse than what was currently before him. Still while that was noteworthy it was what Camilla had proceeded to say while Ludwig had continued to hesitate and keep his blade pointed at her. To his surprise his first emotion wasn’t sadness or guilt. It was anger. Pent up anger that had been threatening to boil over since he’d been ordered to kill her. And it was that anger that steeled him over for a moment as he yelled back at Camilla.

“And what makes you ANY better Camilla? Killing those who you SIDED with and LEAVING like nothing EVER happened? You think THAT is ANY better than trying to kill someone who betrayed you? And let’s take it a step further. If you think your blood is the only blood on my hands you’re wrong. I’ve committed GENOCIDE Camilla. The blood of entire generations is on my hands. Blood I see every single day. Along with the screams. The pleas for mercy. And the sounds of gunfire and bayonets amongst other objects cutting and tearing through live flesh. YOU. DO NOT. MATTER. And it’s not just you. I, the goddamn CAPTAIN do not fucking matter. This military is like all other militaries out there Camilla, it doesn’t care. And it doesn’t take a fucking genius to realize they don’t care and will replace you in a moments notice. THAT’S WHY WE ARE HERE. Because BOTH OF US are disposable. And if I DON’T kill you then I get replaced. And fun fucking fact being replaced when you’re a captain is NOT the same as a lower officer. You could have walked away and through normal means and been fine. They will kill me. Or worse lock me up somewhere to hide away the fact a CAPTAIN left. “

“I don’t want to kill you Camilla. I still want to make things right but how can you repay the lives of those you’ve killed? Because killing you won’t bring the families their cherished person back! It doesn’t even give them peace of mind. Just the vacant hole in their hearts that YOU left there. So what the hell do you expect me to do? Fight against an organization with a literal goddamn army? Are you fucking kidding me?” Ludwig would bring the pencil sword to his side and walk up closer to Camilla. “It must be goddamn nice to be as fucking stupid as you are. Thinking you can just kill others and eventually you’ll topple the shinigami as a whole by wholesale slaughter. But it doesn’t work that way. And it never has. . . But you know the sad thing in all this? You’re not wrong. The entire organization is corrupt. Or at least the leadership is. That “preaching” was my attempt to try and change things from the inside. And look at where that got us. . .nowhere.”

Ludwig sighed mostly to himself as he turned and glanced at the sky. She didn’t deserve this. He shouldn’t be doing this. Just like during the second world war. He shouldn’t have sat on the sidelines. He shouldn’t have let others slaughter innocents. He shouldn’t be slaughtering innocents. And even if Camilla isn’t “innocent” her reasons weren’t incorrect. If anything she was attacking the system in the only way she knew how. And it seems his attempt to try and change the minds of the many was just as futile as it ever would be. If he was ever going to make a statement and show them that how they handled things was wrong then he’d need to go about it differently. Quite likely in a more forceful manner. But that was for another time. He needed to end this. And he needed to pick what he would do. Kill Camilla. . . was there even another option? Yes but only if he showed them undeniable proof she was dead. An idea quickly formed in his head. One that had long term implications if it was ever found out but that would take a long time.

Picking up his notebook Ludwig drew one final object, a cast iron frying pan and promptly pulled it out gripping it in his right hand. “For what it’s worth I’m sorry for my part in this and my failure as a captain to make any of the changes the Gotei 13 needed. And if you’re going to continue down this path a word of advice. You need to change your target from the general populace to the leadership, including the head captain. You won’t get anywhere with them around.” Without any further words Ludwig put as much force as possible behind his swing and slammed the pan on the side of her head behind the ears. The result would be a near instant knockout after a momentary explosion of pain. With that done Ludwig released the kido’s holding her down. Uncertain how long Reika Jii’s effects would last as far as reiatsu nullification. And there it was her zanpakuto and it’s scabbard. Defiance fueling his still long boiled over anger he took her scabbard and opened a door to the barracks. “I’m going to need to find the general populace zanpakuto but with some luck and a lot of convincing you won’t have to deal with anyone else until you come back. And in the meantime. . . maybe I will take a page from your book. It may in fact be time that a larger message was sent.”

[Col Arana]

No specified thread type, but based on content, I'm going to be treating this as an NDE PvP thread.

Camila: 35 Paragraphs, for 875 TP

Ludwig: 31 Paragraphs + 300 TP for winning, for 1075